


Time Magic

by LinaLuthor



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, F/F, Multi, Polyamory, Pre and Post Timeskip, mostly girls falling in love but being broken apart, songfic kinda, this drabble got too long
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-10
Updated: 2020-12-10
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:13:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27993567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LinaLuthor/pseuds/LinaLuthor
Summary: Lysithea has been running against time ever since she was subjected to experiments when she was younger. That's the main reason she starts trying to control and alter time, with no success thus far.She meets Annette and Bernadetta while researching at night, and soon enough finds another reason as to why time magic could be essential not only to herself, but to those she loves.
Relationships: Annette Fantine Dominic/Bernadetta von Varley, Annette Fantine Dominic/Lysithea von Ordelia, Annette Fantine Dominic/Lysithea von Ordelia/Bernadetta von Varley, Lysithea von Ordelia/Bernadetta von Varley
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	Time Magic

**Author's Note:**

> So this is literally a drabble that got too long sjskdjkss  
> And also a song fic so yeah xD this was inspired by Time Machine cause we love Miku in this house too.

Of all the magic that Lysithea had learned through her years of research, all the nights spent awake first in Ordelia, then at the monastery once classes started, the one form she had heard about but never mastered was time magic. Sure, there were always rumors of an ancient mage or another that had been able to wield it, to accelerate, halt, freeze or simply turn back time at their own volition.

She spent many years wishing she would be able to find out more about that. As much as she had looked and searched for books on the subject or other tomes on the nature of time itself, none of her spells had worked even the slightest bit. Every passing moment she saw herself getting further away from an answer to that, to something that could help with her predicament, to the fact that ever since those mages had done what they did to her and to her family, she had been running out of time.

That had been the initial reason as to why she always dedicated some hours of her day to that field of research. Such a thing didn’t stop when she went to the monastery - rather, what had once been two hours turned into three, four and finally entire nights in which she couldn’t sleep and found that her time would be better used if she were to do more and more studying. Experiments of her own that one day might be able to revert those that had been done on her when she was a lot younger.

As always, even in Garreg Mach her research had been a lonesome matter. But not too long afterwards she was joined by an equally capable and eager student, Annette, who soon became curious about her project even without knowing specifics and started helping her with those and other spells as well. And then…

And then a few nights later they were discovered in Annette’s room by none other than a sleepless Bernadetta, who had sneaked out of her room to get some sweets in the kitchen, because the next day would be a free one and she would rather have everything she needed indoors instead of being forced to socialize.

Bernie had watched the show of lights coming from the window in the middle of the dormitory grounds at first, growing awed and somehow calmer once she saw reds, yellows, purples and whites dancing in the darkened room. It was mesmerizing and soothing to watch, almost urging her to grab a canvas and try painting the beauty which she was seeing there. Not that she thought she would be able to do so, but one could dream, right?

When a moment later the door opened and Lysithea invited her in before the three of them could be discovered breaking curfew, she shoved a pastry on the small mage’s hand and darted back to her room faster than she had ever run in her entire life. 

That had repeated itself for some more nights, with Bernadetta getting closer and closer to the room in every occasion. Sometimes Annette would approach the window and they would talk while sharing cookies that Annie had made earlier in the day - she swore they were supposed to be finger sandwiches, but Bernie was always keen to say those were the best cookies she had ever tasted. Eventually Lysithea would join them, once she was too exhausted to go on practicing and Annette taunted her about the treats being gone before she could grab one.

It had been fun, good times. Even more so when Bernadetta finally stepped into the room and brought her canvas or sketchbook with her, trying to commit to memory and paper the beauty, the despair, the many emotions which both empowered and were so visible on the magic that was being demonstrated. 

Once they started sharing not only sleepless nights, lighthearted facts about themselves and favorite sweets, but also dark memories and bitter thoughts, Bernie finally had an idea about where all the feelings she could sometimes see in their eyes but always in their spells had come from.

That, plus the understanding that she saw and found with them, as well as the ways in which Annette and Lysithea would encourage her to express herself by leaving magical inks that lasted longer and turned into whichever color she wanted or needles that never ran out of thread, made Bernadetta grow entirely too comfortable with them and as a result, open herself up to the two mages.

Those months together had been utter bliss, with no pressure put on any of them to be something more than people who loved in their own, different ways. That weren’t all up for kissing and making out, but were more than ok with cuddling, hand holding and showing their love as support, as encouraging words and projects done together in the dark of the night. 

So when war broke and they were separated after the siege of Garreg Mach, the need to go back to their own territories overriding their will to stick together and make sure they were safe, it was the first time they all wished that Lysithea and Annette had been able to master the time magic they had researched but failed to use for so long. As they hugged and whispered sweet promises of going back, of meeting in the library as soon as they could and everything was better, then asked one another to be safe and write, Lysithea cursed herself for not being enough, not for her own sake but for those of the two girls she had come to love.

She would curse herself for days because of it, because of the fact that she hadn't found a way to manipulate time. And right then, as they stood apart, there was no way they could turn it back to those easier nights and carefree days in which there was no impending doom upon them.

That wish was renewed every time the distant, desolate corner of Ordelia was blessed with letters from one or both of her loves, winds of hope that carried within them sweet promises of change and an encounter. They turned sour the moment those envelopes were opened and she read about how dire things were in the Kingdom and the Empire as well. At first she had understood that such matters were inevitable, that they had to wait until it all calmed down so they would be able to crawl out of their territories and get back together in the place that had seen them grow and find love.

However, when two letters with the same tone became ten, twenty, fifty or more as years went by, Lysithea, no, all of them, lost sight of the light they had found with each other, the darkness which now surrounded them becoming new and scary, then known and inescapable. They had tried clinging into memories of the sweet past in order to survive, to make it into another day, to remind each other why they were waiting, what they could have if things were any different. Even so, time had lost its meaning, days running into one another as more and more reports of conflicts that had ended in a stalemate reached each of them.

One day that changed too, once rumors of a green-haired woman returning to Garreg Mach and joining the Kingdom army followed the usual reports of death and destruction, the usual letters of apologies and wishes that things would be different soon.

Soon after that they stopped hearing from Annette, then Bernadetta and Lysithea were called forth by their own lieges in order to do what was necessary and to fight for what they wanted, for better days and different versions of better times that didn’t coincide and apparently couldn’t coexist.

Whenever they marched to a new battle with armies that had become strangers to them after the imprint of time and a war, they hoped against hope they wouldn't meet anyone they knew. That their own reunion wouldn’t be bittersweet, with them standing on opposite sides of a cruel, merciless battlefield which wouldn’t hesitate to strike them down if they as much as faltered. They would internally rejoice and let go of a sigh once they realized it wasn’t the case, at least not for the battle they were going to face, and have one more day to hope that they would meet again in better, lighter times.

Until Gronder field sprawled under their eyes, the vast and open green camps that met the mockingly beautiful blue skies on that day, the view marred by armies standing each and every side that one could look at.

Lysithea felt her eyes water once she glanced to her right and saw Annette taking her place beside Mercedes and Dimitri, her hair now long and curlier, let loose to ride on the wind of her magic and the sorrow in her blue eyes. She looked beautiful, strong, resolute… though not when their gazes met for a single second, a slice of time that was lost to sorrow.

In front of her, perched on a platform with a bow that would strike true no matter what, was Bernadetta, their sweet, loving Bernie, way taller than they could remember her, hair cropped short, her eyes just as observant as always but glazed over since she, too, had realized what was about to happen. Since she, too, saw that her worst fears were coming to life and their reunion wasn't full of happiness and relief, but accompanied by weapons and fights.

Oh how they wished, in that single moment before war cries broke and Gronder field exploded into fire, swords and magic, that they had been able to discover or create the necessary spells. That they had actually been able to turn back time to better days and lighter nights, to cookies and sweets shared under moon and starlight


End file.
